Reading, Reading over the Bounding Main

After the account of the Saratoga campaign, I'm on to The Coward of Minden, by Piers Mackesy:

An unflattering portrait.

A quite good volume that seeks to rehabilitate Sackville; the author has also written a book on his conduct of the American Revolution that I will read next. He describes the cavalry debacle of Minden very similarly to, say, the Charge of the Light Brigade; as a comedy of errors caused by confusing orders to someone who couldn't see where he was expected to go. Worse, there were multiple contradictory orders, and I feel sympathy for Sackville in that situation. Prince Ferdinand, who commanded at Minden, is depicted as the villain of the piece, in part because he gave little initiative to his subordinates.

Another British submarine memoir:

First read at university
over two decades ago...

A rare account of British submarining - U-boats and US subs get virtually all the WWII press. Quite good and suspenseful account of the North Sea and Mediterranean. I'd be interested to find one of the U and V class boats that sailed out of Malta.

Hastenbeck 1757, by Helion and Company. Still waiting for more of their wargames volumes to show up on Hoopla, or better, the Christopher Duffy books.

The campaign was over some of the same ground as that of Minden. The book is translated from French, and is entirely from the French perspective, but that's not the real problem for me; it's that like many books on the wars in the Low Countries and the Holy Roman Empire, I'm utterly lost by all the names of towns encountered on the march - except a few from the World Wars - I can orient myself a bit when, say, Ypres or Nijmegen turn up, and I've heard of major cities like Dusseldorf and Munster. The maps, however, are bare bones. In the Minden book there are at least arrows, if not major roads and terrain "hash marks." In this one, there are just rivers and dots-for-towns. There is a ton of potentially useful statistics about supplies, wagons, pontoons, etc, so this might be interesting for a gamer who likes campaigns, but without good maps you'd have to keep it in your head or make your own map! There's only one map with units and arrows on it, the battle of Hastenbeck itself, and that makes the account of the battle more comprehensible.

To be fair, I imagine Europeans reading about the American Civil War are equally as lost.

The battle itself is described pretty clearly, and it ultimately led to the convention of Klosterzeven in which Cumberland gave up Hanover and got in a lot of trouble. Unfortunately for the French commander, he had actually been recalled shortly before the battle, though he didn't learn this until after it, of course. The French were also criticized for not having forced a British surrender.

There are lots of eyewitness accounts, and the book is relatively short. I'm middling in my thoughts about it, but I have learned something about a battle I wasn't familiar with. I'm happy I borrowed it rather than bought it. There are a handful of nice uniform plates.

OK, that's it for this week. On to:

An excellent quote from the above, on Bennington: "Baum ... qualified for marching through a country of mixed friends and foes by speaking no English." His unit included, "... for secrecy, a German band; to speed the column, 170 dismounted German dragoons in search of horses, marching in their huge top boots and spurs and trailing their sabres."

Will I game? Well, maybe. Something solo tomorrow or Sunday. See you then, and thanks for reading.

Trundling Along

I'm tired, depressed and not in much of a mood to game real life history at present. I think I'll concentrate on Quar and VBCW for a while (which I need to anyway). Having nearly all Quar built (a cat stole one) and a clear day outside, I chose to undercoat them. I only have pure white to do it with, but it should be an OK base for Contrast-type paints.

As for what I've been reading...

Published in the '60s. Quite short, it's thus pretty superficial, concentrating on personality quirks and famous incidents rather than being true biography. It's written in chronological order, too, and in a style that makes me unsurprised the author specializes in fiction. It's not a bad introduction, though.

This one, on the other hand, is new, and quite scholarly. It focuses on the military side of things, primarily strategic and operational. The author's key concept that he uses to rank the main players (Howe, Burgoyne, Washington, Gates, Sackville, etc) is grip - a term I haven't heard before in reference to military competence. Basically, it means partly understanding and recognition of the many variables a general needs to make a decision, and partly the ability to control the units under his command to carry out his intention. He uses Montgomery in the Western Desert as a good example of a general with "grip." Washington and Gates had it, the British didn't. This was mostly because of distance and the fact that some of them didn't like each other (The Americans didn't either, but they still managed to work together).

To Weddle, the reason the British campaign failed was because it was managed from afar, in a strategic sense from London, and in an operational sense between commanders variously in Philadelphia, New York and Canada. Both sides had to spend weeks (months in the case of overseas) communicating, but one was operating on interior lines. Both Howe and Burgoyne focused on parts of their orders that said they could work independently and assume the other would support them, rather than the parts that said they could and should use their own initiative because their directors were too far away in space and time to have the "grip" they needed.

There was also the problem that the goal was to link up the armies at Albany and then, somehow, the British would profit - when instead supply would still be so strained that there would have to be penny-packet garrisons all along the line, and taking Albany wouldn't prevent the Americans linking up anyway. He doesn't mention the parallel, but I'm reminded of the Vicksburg campaign which really did cut the Confederacy in two.

All in all, an excellent and well-researched volume on the campaign, and the battle narratives aren't bad either.

Finally, I've started an account of HM/Submarine Trenchant:

Best known for sinking the cruiser
Ashigara.

Quite good so far, even in the first chapter on the construction and working up; I liked the description of a senior WRNS officer as "the Great Crested Wren!"

OK, just finished undercoating 27 Quar:

Ten Crusader "line squad" and four trench raiders.

Ten Coftyran line and three snipers.

I experimented with an undercoating method I found on Youtube - sticking the figures to a paint stick and wearing a glove. In theory, this makes it easier to aim the paint at all the undercuts; in practice I still missed a lot, and will have to use some white paint to neaten. Still, one step done, a dozen to go...!

Enjoy your week, folks. Two of my coworkers are off so I'll have a busy one. See you next time.

Across the Narrow Seas

 Not having been to the club for a bit, I was keen to try Cruel Seas again with John's scenario.

A mined French harbor, with rare Games Workshop
hills for terrain at the back. German defenders at
top, British attackers to lower right, Axis convoy
to come in at upper right.

Three Motor Gun Boats and three Vosper MTBs.
"Early War," so not a huge range of armament.

Two German "Kriegfishcutters," or picket boats.
Also two R-boats that doubled as minesweepers.

A convoy of Axis freighters was on the way in, and our goal was to sink as many ships as possible.

We only had six dud-prone torpedoes to do it with.

I took the MTBs (right), Mark the MGBs (left). The convoy started off board, so in Turn 1 we just moved forward with a little desultory shooting from 2-pounder and 37mm guns.

On Turn 2, though, the convoy showed up (random die roll for appearance). Another round of light gunfire, while I slowed to launch four torpedoes at the incoming big ships (they need 20cm of run to activate the exploders). The R-boats went for the mines in the entryway farthest from us. One set off a mine and took severe hit-point damage; the other also failed its roll but thankfully it was a dud. 

Closeup on the R-boats.

Germans dealing with the first row of mines.

Fish in the water!

Turn 3, the torpedoes ran 40cm, not quite enough to hit. We shot up the harbor craft some more.

John checks the range as the firing boat
turns to bring its broadside of three machine guns and
a 20mm Oerlikon to bear. Can they even hurt the target?

Turn 4: The torpedo salvo crippled the freighter even though only one went off. (One miss and two duds for the others.)

In exchange, an 88 (!) on the next ship scored a direct hit on my third MTB, which was a) on fire, b) took a rudder hit and c) took 32 points of damage - leaving 3!

Unhappy boat crew on a vinyl sea.

In what I expected to be the boat's last moments, I fired its torpedoes and plastered the tanker in the second line with MG fire, doing 13 points of damage and a bridge hit. Further fire did 24 more damage to the tanker which then (due to the bridge hit leaving it unable to steer) hit the island on its starboard bow. It was also now down to single hit points. Mark had a gunboat take half damage, but his return fire finished off one of the German harbor boats.

A view of the "second line" of the convoy, with the tanker
aiming for the island ahead of it.

K-k-k-k-krunch!!! The R-boats behind are heading
for the mines at upper right.

In Turn 5, my crippled MTB's torpedoes were duds. I spent the turn putting out the fire, but was down to slow movement which, given limited turning at that speed, aimed me either at an island or into point-blank range of enemy fire. The 88 on the following freighter took out another MTB with damage dice alone, with the two crits just icing on the cake. Two more large ships were getting away, but I polished off the stricken tanker by fire (Mark had to leave at this point, but we were down to four operational boats anyway...)

That bloody 88 can be seen amidships of the dazzle-camoed
freighter.

In Turn 6, I sank the third freighter by gunfire (good riddance to the 88) as the R-boats cleared the channel for the fourth to get away. In a characterful but not gamist move, I halted my nearest surviving boat to the cripple with the intention to offload its crew and then run. Unfortunately, this made it vulnerable and one firing phase later, it was in the same situation as the first boat - down to 4HP and with no return fire allowed next turn.

Well, that didn't help.

But at least only one of those convoy ships escaped.

In Turn 7, my surviving boats got off board. End result, the British had managed to interdict the convoy, including crucial oil, and only the smallest ship got into port. We also sank one of the harbor tug-types. In exchange, we lost one MGB sunk, one abandoned, and one which would not be able to escape the board before the vengeful R-boats got through the hole they'd finally made in the second row of mines. Surrender is probably in order. Still, a victory is a victory. 

It occured to me belatedly that smoke would have been really useful to shield my damaged boats, but it didn't matter as the rules for that aren't in the main book we were working from. Ah, well. Also, the torpedoes didn't help much - we had five hits out of six shots, but only one went off (early-war torps - coulda been even worse if these were American boats). Our two-pounders, 20mms and Vickers guns did most of the damage, which suggests the freighters were pretty darn thin-skinned! But in exchange, a mere 35 HP per British boat meant that a single round of fire could take one out of the game - as John pointed out, they are very much glass cannons.

I'm still a little disconcerted at the large scale of the game, but it still makes for a fun time and with lots of exploding dice to roll. A fine game and scenario by John. I'd happily play again, and with great opponents too. The weekend of the 15th we're planning a three-day series of games, so I should be able to make at least one; of course there is also the annual Limeys and Slimeys "regatta" coming up too for more nautical mayhem. See you around, and thanks for reading.

Clash of Rhyfles Playtest

Today, a little experimentation with Quar. This is not laid out neatly, and is more for my benefit than the readers' - if you're disinterested, skip as this will have some rules and calculation. If you are interested but know nothing of Quar, the rules I'm using can be found here. I'm thinking of using them for small-scale VBCW as well.

One thing I liked about the old 40K starter sets was that they would start you off with just one or two figures a side and go through the turn structure piece by piece. I chose to take a full three-man fireteam of each side, so that I could try out all weapons and the Pluck mechanic too (used only by leaders). The Crusaders have a standard team of Milwer (corporal) with Bogen rifle, Rhyfler with rifle, and Ryfler with Ryshi "heavy rifle." The Coftyrans (who don't do fireteams, but have the WWII British squad organization with seven rifles and a three-man LMG team) get a machine gun team with the same layout, but slightly different weaponry. They start at opposite corners of a 2x2 square.

This will not be nearly as clear or as useful as Stew's much-better-illustrated playthru, but it'll help me. I hope.

L-R: Coftyrans and Crusaders.

Round 1: All three Crusaders move once, 5" towards the enemy. For their fourth action this card, the Ryshi gunner fires. (If I "knew" I had a fifth action, I'd spend two pluck to provide him supporting fire for +4 to his check). He's 17" away, so two full range bands for -2. The target will dive for cover, reducing the Ryshi's check to -6, so he rolls a 6 or less on 3d6: 12! So he missed, but the check is less than 13 and target dove. Attacker moves the target, who is gobsmacked. For Action Five, only the Milwer is left, and goes on Overwatch.

Round 2: The Gobsmacked Coftyran stands up for one action. The Milwer moves closer to the machine gunner, then for his second action spends two Pluck points to provide Supporting Fire. Do we have a fourth action? We do. The Cryfen machine-gunner has the Milwer touching him (+1 for Loader) and a Pluck point is spent for support fire (+2 for each of the two guys within 4"). He does Area Fire (-1 for each target in a 4" circle, so -2) and the targets are 17" away for two full range bands (-2). The Ryshi will dive for cover (-4) and the Milwer fire a snap shot (-1). I choose the latter for the snap shot as they are both two range bands away but the latter's Bogen rifle has only -2 to its snap fire; the Ryshi has -3. We'll target the Milwer first at 12-. I rolled an 11 - target out of action. The Ryshi gunner is 9- and I rolled an 8 - also out of action! This means the Milwer can't snap-shot back, as that comes after he's shot at (I got that wrong during the Hurricon game).

Whoops, forgot the Overwatch, who probably could have done something about this. Let's fire the Crusader Milwer. Two range bands (-2), shoots at the Milwer (who snapshots back (-1). 9 or less. He rolls exactly 9, so the Coftyran Milwer is OOA. He could thus not have provided the pluck point, so -5 to the rolls. Both would have been 13+, thus both Crusaders move to cover. There isn't any, so they stay put. The Ryshi dove for cover so is prone, while I assume the Milwer is still standing.

I need to make notes re: which photos go where.
I wonder if I can name photos whilst taking them.

Well, this IS why I'm doing this - to learn to watch out for things like that.

Round 3: The Crusader Ryshi returns fire, spending two pluck to provide support (+4). We're doing Area Fire again, able to hit all three opponents (-3) two range bands away (-2). The Cryfen gunner will snap-shot back and the Milwer will load him (I assume this means he cannot snapshot or dive for cover). The third Quar dives for cover. Cryfen to-hit is thus 10-, Milwer 11-, Rhyfler 7-. The Cryfen to-hit is 12 (nothing, as he didn't dive); Milwer 7 (out of action), Rhyfler 10 (dived for cover, so may move 1" and go prone. He could move 5", but there isn't any cover to dive for so he's just hitting the nearest dirt).

Wait, the Ryshi was prone. Any effect? No. The Cryfen gunner shoots back (-3 for snap shot, -2 for range, -2 for prone target, +1 for loader). He needs 6- and rolled a 9. The Ryshi may move an inch, but is already prone.

Supporting shooters may do nothing else, so we're done.

Round 4: Given the lack of cover, both sides should have been prone already, but poor shooting has led to no casualties so far. Coftyrans all move 5" and go prone. One of them had to stand to do this, so that's three actions. They're done, but closer to the enemy and at -2 to be hit.

Round 5: Two more Crusaders go prone and move 2.5". The Ryshi tries aimed fire (no range penalty, but spends two actions - has he a fourth action to do it with? Yes! He picks on the prone Milwer, and spends two Pluck for support fire. (his Milwer has one remaining.) -2 for prone target (who dives for cover - only 1" for no cover) so 6- to hit. The score is 12, so the target is Gobsmacked. We have a fifth action but, due to the support fire, can't use it.

These photos aren't very interesting or illuminating, are they?

Round 6: The Coftyran Milwer Recovers and stays flat. Let's try a grenade next, which uses both actions of the Rhyfler. He throws at a target w/in 10" - the Ryshi gunner who just shot at his boss. He suffers no penalty for being prone. We throw two dice and get 12! That's the best result - all three Crusaders are hit! For the Milwer this is 3D6 vs. his 4 toughness. I rolled a 14 - this is thrice the toughness so the Ryshi gunner is dead! The other rolls, on 2D6 instead, are 6 and 4 respectively, so the Milwer is Gobsmacked and the Rhyfler can be pushed an inch - this seems odd for a grenade to do, but he rolls over half an inch away from the blast. No more actions.

Round 7: OK, that's pretty tough for the Crusaders. The Milwer will recover and both figures stand and move. My intent is to experiment with assault. The Milwer spends his last pluck to Charge, and picks on the opposing Milwer. This chap may take Opportunity Fire, but I assume he fires at the range his target was at from the beginning of the move, so is two range bands away. -3 for snapshot and range, +2 for automatic shooting at a single target, so 11-. He rolled an 8 which would take the charger out of action; for testing purposes let's assume he misses.

(I reverted a bit to see what might happen if the Crusader Rhyfler tossed a smoke grenade first, which would have given a further -3 to hit his boss [which would have still hit, so no prob]. I rolled a 2/2, which meant the Coftyran player would get to place the grenade, so it wouldn't block his LOS anyway.)

In goes the Crusader on his prone opponent (+2 to his skill, so 14-). He rolls 11, a hit, and rolls D6+2 Might vs. Toughness 4. He rolled a 2, so equals the Toughness, which only pushes his opponent. No good. Curiously, since this is a Combat action he can't fight again even though he is Engaged, so he'll Steady, giving him back a single Pluck point for future use...

That's the second time someone has basically rolled over
in response to an attack.

But it's getting dark, IRL and I guess in-game too. At this point, having tried all the mechanisms I wanted to, and needing to get to bed soon, I'll stop here. Comments from Quar veterans gratefully welcomed.

More Reading

Today, I finished one book, and got well into another. I was sitting at a desk all day while Early Voters filed past me; we're not open Sundays so I was just there to open the door for the election staff. Didn't even have to answer the phone.

I also built some Paperboys for display, some for Halloween and some for Veteran's Day (as wargame minis, the latter will double as part of my International Games Month display).

When I got home, my table was in bright natural light and I considered playtesting Quar: Clash of Rhyfles; then I went to sleep instead, because I'd been at work from 6am. This is my real problem; even a quick three-figure-a-side demo just seems like too much work. Tuesday, then. Must hold myself to that. The alternative is playing outside, which I just might be able to get away with as there shouldn't be anyone else in the "common area" on a weekday morning.

I first discovered Philip Bradley through his On Shaggy Ridge, an engaging account of the Australian 7th Division in late 1943 and one of those little-known jungle battles. Several of his books are now on Hoopla. Australian Light Horse is about the WWI Light Horse Brigade in Egypt and Palestine. There are lots of photos and quotes from the soldiers involved. A good introduction to the campaign, and plenty of useful description for colonial wargaming inspiration. There are side jaunts to Lawrence of Arabia and the air war, too.

So I finished that, and got about a third of the way into Fighting Vichy From Horseback before I left for the day. This is a unique story of British horsed Yeomanry from WWII, and so far it's very appealing. That first third is about the enlistment, training and transport of the Yeomanry from May 1939 on, and there are many interesting tidbits of life in a Yeomanry regiment that could inspire "fluff" for VBCW. There remained a class distinction, with gentry providing many of the officers, but also lots of men with experience in hunting and racing. Horses were simply requisitioned at low prices, and relinquished with emotion, to the point that one is said to have had a note attached - "Seven years old, can be led by a child. Take good care of him." Some of the sergeants and sergeants-major had been commissioned during WWI. Little examination was done, and some of the mares were pregnant and foaled during the voyage to Palestine. A Free French unit rode stallions and care had to be taken that the mounts didn't "mix!"

The author's thesis is that, even at the time, horsed cavalry could still be an integral part of a "modern" army. Cavalry wasn't horsed just because it was cheaper than tanks - it was horsed because horses could go places tanks couldn't - like the heavily broken ground of Lebanon. Also, they feed themselves, though the disadvantage is that they're harder to care for than a motor vehicle - and this was a problem for the WWII British cav, who were largely not trained horsemen to begin with.

He points out that the Germans had cavalry, and even crossed swords with the stereotypical Polish lancers who never actually attacked tanks; while the Soviets used all-arms formations, with riders scouting for the armor! All three services also armed their horsemen with the same heavy weapons as the infantry - this comes up in Bradley's book too, where several times cavalry was able to reach an infilading position with machine guns to cut up Turkish attacks and convoys. 

The Yeomanry were reorganized several times before the campaign, some elements being mechanized, then their vehicles taken away and rehorsed. Part of the problem was that the British were badly overstretched in the Med in mid-1941, and in fact the Yeomanry were the only mobile troops available in Palestine because everyone else - including some of their own - had been sent to Greece or the Western Desert. In times of unrest, their mounts made them useful Aid to the Civil Power.

So, quite interesting, and I look forward to finishing it. Others I've picked up include a biography of sniper Billy Sing (mentioned in the Light Horse volume, though by the time of the Middle Eastern campaign he had transferred out), and Henry Hyde's Tabletop Battle Tactics. I enjoy his style of writing, even though I doubt this volume will be much use to me!

See you next time, hopefully with something more meaty.

More Lateral Progress

Ten days since my last post. Been reading 40K novels (catching up on Dan Abnett's Sabbat Worlds Crusade macrocosm), and not really trying to build, paint or play with anything plastic. Though (inspired by a readthru of Beneath the Lily Banners 1st Edition) I did build more of the Spanish 1680s Paperboys I've been working on:

This is the standard unit in BLB - three musketeer bases
and one pike base behind, all of six figures.

Will be doing lots more reading coming up, since I get to come in early and often to work for Early Voting. Starting with tomorrow at 5:30am.

More and more Helion books are turning up on the Hoopla reading app - right now I'm working my way through their wargaming manual for the First Carlist War. It's quite good, lots of basic information for a newbie like me, plus lovely photos of Perry Miniatures.

I'm still waiting for the one
on the Anglo-Sikh wars.

Others I'm working on or coming up to:

From 1987, so long out of date,
when many were brand new.
Contains a lot of technical detail.
A bathroom read.

Another Helion volume from Hoopla.

By Pen and Sword this time.

I really liked his chapter in
the "alternate Napoleonic Wars"
volume, and this is shaping
up to be very enjoyable.
With sardonic humor, too.

There are several miniature projects I need to build:

• Assemble and label the new Wofuns I picked up at Hurricon. I've used up most of my names, so a hasty reread of the Branion series is in order.
• Assemble the second box of Travel Battle. I may model some as light infantry.
• Assemble the BEF. I'm thinking of one squad of Scottish militia (in berets) and the other two as LDV with Springfield rifles.

Of course, I should be playtesting Quar and VBCW, and there is the Port Royal kickstarter turning up in a month or two... oh, and cleaning my table, or at least getting another, would be a good idea. The Closet of Shame is about to get deeper.

Hopefully some real hobby progress next time.

Hunker Down and Hobby. Plus 200 Posts!

So, Hurricane Milton went through, which means I have a three-day weekend though I only caught the edge and there wasn't even any rain. A couple coworkers north of me lost power. Spent Wednesday keeping an eye on the track, watching Boney episodes and Games Workshop videos, and building Quar and Paperboys:

Crusaders, three fire-teams of three plus a Yawdryl (Sergeant).

Coftyrans, in WWII British squad organization - rifle group
and machine-gun group. Though the Crusaders get the Brit helmets.

Pirate-era Spanish.

Also finished reading Wellington's Redjackets, a history of the 45th (1st Nottinghamshire Regiment) in the Peninsular War. Good, if typical of the other period regimental histories I've read. I did enjoy learning more about the South American expedition of 1807, and the 1814 invasion of France, which I was unfamiliar with.

Last blogpost was my 200th.

Among the first Asimov
nonfiction I read.

• In the course of the last hundred, I discovered Very British Civil War, obtained nearly all the sourcebooks and plenty of useful miniatures for the period, and began to experiment with rules for the "period." I also discovered Quar.
• I also got in several programs of miniature painting at work, as well as Paperboy displays and papercrafting activities. I've moved to a branch where I have more kids to work with, but fewer teens, so some of that has been reduced in complexity. I'm effectively in charge of a Chess club now, so I have opportunities to experiment.
• I read dozens of books.
• I went to two HMGS-South conventions. I ran a game of Charge! at one.
• I organized and named my Wofun regiments so as to play Charge! The game I ran provided much useful feedback, so I should be able to play some more soon.
• I even painted a little on my own account, for the first time in quite a few years, and obtained some terrain to play with. (I have got to get a lot more hills and colored patches for forests.)
• I started working through the Charles Grant Programmed Wargames scenarios - so far three.
• I played five Minceheim games solo.
• I played in 10 games at Das Krieg Haus over roughly two years - not bad actually, given that I can only get there every other Saturday. (Some of the available Saturdays, I chose to attend the Virtual Wargames Club instead.) These were nearly all GMed by Oriskany Jim or Mark Ritchie.

What didn't I do? That would be actually finishing, or even seriously progressing on - any particular project. Except for the Jacobite mostly-solo campaign.

I would like to:

• Prep and run Picacho Pass - I have an increasingly enthusiastic partner for it, so I really need to get on that.
• Play more programmed scenarios, with an eye to working through the entire book.
• Obtain more natural terrain to do it with.
• Paint the Quar and start playing it.
• Start playing VBCW, or even running it for the club. It doesn't help that there are numerous rules that would work; I am actually considering Quar: Clash of Rhyfles for small games.
• Do some more library gaming and -adjacent activities. My supervisor has voluntold me to prepare take-and-make crafts for the foreseeable future, so Paperboys are on the horizon. I also ended up with accidental responsibility for a display case that is ideal for miniature displays...

Not too shabby, really. I still think this blog is pushing me to actually do hobby stuff; it's also opened up a community of fellow bloggers whose encouragement is just as invigorating. Thanks, and I'll see you in the next hundred!